The Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti likes to say he never asks his strikers to score goals, but perhaps he should start. Ancelotti yesterday described his quartet of strikers as among the best in Europe, even though collectively they have failed to score in the past five Premier League games, ever since Fernando Torres made his debut following his £50m move from Liverpool.

Nicolas Anelka has described the French Football Federation as a "bunch of clowns" after it imposed an 18-game international ban on the striker for his role in the France team's World Cup revolt in South Africa.